


Our Bond is Thicker Than Blood

by SniperMoran



Category: Death Stranding (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Drinking, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Higgs ran away from home to try becoming a vampire, M/M, MULEs are also assholes, and Higgs likes killing them for sport, asshole Bridges people, not as lame as it sounds??
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:40:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25159396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SniperMoran/pseuds/SniperMoran
Summary: He could almost taste the blood and fear, something else. Something young and scared. He followed it by feeling alone, finding a younger man pulling out the throat of a man with his teeth.In which Sam Porter Bridges is a vampire, and little Higgs Monaghan wishes that he were.
Relationships: Sam Porter Bridges/Higgs Monaghan
Comments: 5
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

The scent of something visceral filled the air, drawing his attention to what, several moments ago, had been a MULE camp. That worked just fine for him, burn the bodies, take their stuff, they even had a truck.

He could almost taste the blood and fear, something else. Something young and scared. He followed it by feeling alone, finding a younger man pulling out the throat of a man with his teeth. 

"Ugh, look at you. Making a big mess of all this. Guys like you are what give us a bad name." He huffed, knowing he was bigger. 

He wasn't going to take his food, but he wasn't going to let the kid have all the good shit either.

It hadn't been easy, taking all these bastards down, but he had gotten a taste for it after a few seasons of doing this. Still, he hadn't developed into one of them monsters his Daddy had hated so much. He still bled, still could feel the beat of his own damn heart thundering in his chest when he got himself into some deep shit.

This had been one of those times, but being that he was on the last guy—

A voice.

Where the fuck had a voice—

Silver-blue eyes blinked up at the man towering over him, judging him with darkness in his eyes. Higgs glared and bared his naturally sharp teeth.

"The hell you lookin at, old man?"

"Watch your mouth, kid." Sam hissed, looking down at the mess on his face. 

"Shit, you're probably wearing more of it than you've eaten. Wipe your damn face off." He huffed, gesturing to his mouth. 

"You new at this crap?"

"Been at it only a few seasons," he muttered, licking his lips and then wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

...he then proceeded to lick the back of his hand.

"And you ain't my Daddy; ain't gotta watch my mouth about shit."

"Do if you don't want me to kick your damn teeth in." Sam threatened, standing just a little taller. Even though the kid was kneeling, he'd be taller than him anyway. 

He shook his head looking away. "Couple of seasons? Shit kid... look, I'll help you clean up this mess and give you a ride into the nearest town." He offered, looking around them.

"The sun's gonna come up soon, so you're gonna help me load up the truck with their stuff."

Higgs wanted to growl, wanted to dare the man to do it, to kick his fuckin teeth in.

...but he was good, and he kept his trap shut, huffing as he pushed himself up to his feet, brushing the dirt off his pants, smearing the still wet blood on him.

"Ain't goin into town. I stay out here in the open – hate the fuckin towns," he muttered, getting moving on helping the other guy clean up the camp, gather the heavy ass MULE bodies into a pile.  
For a tiny thing, he was pretty strong.

Sam helped him pile them up, a little impressed by the kid. "You got no one looking out for you out here?" He asked, looking him over, sizing him up. 

"You can't keep getting your food like this, you'll run out." He rolled his eyes. "Get in the truck, I'll take you wherever you want to go, but I'm not leaving you out here for the sun."

"Just me," he murmured, starting the fire for the bodies, staring into the flames a moment before turning to look at the man and the truck.

"I don't... I don't know. I don't want to go to the fuckin cities though, or the towns. I don't want any of it. I been trapped underground way too long..."

"We'll go to the city and get a better truck. This one is too open, you'll burn up in it." He shook his head, looking it over before climbing up and into the cab. 

"Not going underground though. Can't stand all the smells, all that noise." He shuddered at the thought, watching the other guy climb into the truck. 

"What's your name? I'm Sam."

"....Higgs," he muttered, closing the door, crossing his arms.

"So what's your deal? You pick up every little stray you find out in the wide open world or what? ...or did all that blood draw you in?"

Sam huffed a laugh, called out by a fucking baby. "The blood caught my attention, then the bodies and all the raw materials laying around." He agreed, starting the truck and looking over to the kid. 

"Higgs? Don't you know it's illegal for us to kill our prey." He said with a serious face before cracking. "I'm sure the government might get off its ass and maybe do something."

"Only illegal if you plan on turnin me in," Higgs shrugged, looking out the window at the fire as they pulled away. "...guess that'd be pretty easy for you to do now, since I willingly got into your truck under the guise of you takin me anywhere away from here."

_Plus, I ain't one of you..._

"One less MULE camp – ain't nobody gonna care about that shit. Probably bunch more people would be thankful I did em in, got em gone."

Sam looked over, clicking his tongue. "Lighten up a little, kid. You really think anyone is gonna do anything about a couple MULEs missing?" He snorted a laugh. 

"People hate them way more than they hate us. And at least that's pretty justified."

"They're all I go after usually anyway, MULEs. Knock one camp out and another fuckin pops up somewhere else. They're like cockroaches. ...or a hydra. You ever heard of a hydra?" Higgs turned to look towards Sam curiously.

"Mythical creature – you cut off one head and buncha heads grow back to replace the head that was cut off," he sighed, hugging himself and pulling his gaze back away from Sam, looking out the darkened window.

Sam looked over at the other guy. He seemed nervous, like he was going to jump out the truck any minute. 

"Hey, relax, kid. Not going to hurt you." He reassured, looking between him and where he was going.

"Could if you wanted, I wouldn't give a shit," he shrugged, watching the peekings of the sunrise through the dark tinted windows.

"Sun's coming up, Sam," he breathed, his heart pounding heavily in his chest.

Daddy had told him plenty of stories of Sam's sort bursting when the sun rose in the sky.

Sam frowned, looking the kid over again. "We'll talk about that later. But yeah, you're right." He sighed, looking at the horizon, hitting the gas. 

As long as they were in the distribution center, they'd be fine. Higgs could hang out in the back of the truck.

The truck made it into the entrance tunnel of the distro center just as the sun was passing up over the horizon. Higgs relaxed, letting a breath out as he seemed to melt into the front truck seat.

Down the ramp they skidded, coming to a stop near the back.

"Where've you brought us...?"

"Distribution center." He answered simply. "We're gonna unload everything and junk it. Truck too. Gonna get a better one so I can take you wherever." He explained, climbing out of the truck.

Higgs furrowed his brow and hopped out of the truck.  
"And no one is gonna be weirded out that I'm here with blood all over my shit?" He asked, looking around and thankfully seeing no one in the area.  
No one to see him for the mess that he was, aside from Sam.

But that was fine. Sam was different. Sam was the one that found him in an even more compromising state.

"Just stand off to the side. No one actually works up here in person this time of day." Sam said, pointing to a spot for Higgs to stand. 

"No one will even see you there. Shit... you'll probably need new clothes. Those MULEs stink." He huffed, putting in a request for clothes too.

The young man huffed and stood off where Sam had told him to, arms crossed over his chest as he waited.

"....so how do you survive all this, Sam? Bein like you are and all?"

Sam looked over to Higgs, collecting the stuff from the belt, loading it on to the new truck. 

"What do you mean?" He asked, tossing the clean clothes over to Higgs. "Like I am? You can get changed in the back."

Grumbling, Higgs hopped in the back and stripped of the ruined clothes, glad to be somewhere at least a bit covered so no one would see his body as it was.  
Pulling on the fresh clothes, he banged on the window to the cab of the truck.

"Like you are! You know..." Higgs bared his teeth and pointed at his own naturally sharp teeth. "Don't see you out there devouring whole camps, so... how do you survive?" He asked, leaning against the window.

"Just don't make a mess of it." Sam laughed, shaking his head. "Plenty of people offer themselves up. You can pay for it. But I usually just go for blood bags." He shrugged, glad to see Higgs in clean clothes. 

He still smelt of fresh blood, a shower would be good for him, but he'd be fine. 

"What about you? You just go about devouring camps? You know one or two would feed you just fine."

"Can't exactly leave the rest of em alive though, can I? I'm not... the best at sneaking around, quietly, undetected," he muttered, shaking his head.

"Didn't know you could pay for blood. Daddy only talked about paying people for sex."

Higgs sighed, leaning against the window.

Sam shook his head, a bitter laugh making it's way out of him. "You can pay for just about anything." He sighed heavily. "Trade is just as good."

"World runs on passing credits from one person's hand into another's, I guess. No matter the reason," he sighed, letting his eyes close as he relaxed.  
Always felt fuckin exhausted after taking out a camp, but at least he had had someone's help with the clean up this time.

"Hey, Sam," Higgs placed his hand against the divider window. "Thanks for helping me out today."

Sam looked back, feeling something in his chest bubble up. He smiled slightly, giving him a nod. 

"No problem kid. Now. Where we heading?" He asked, starting the truck.

"Anywhere but here, I imagine," he shrugged, sitting down in the back, relaxing. "Want me back in the cab before we head out?" He asked curiously.

Sam's voice was so warm and gentle, now that he wasn't reprimanding him over the fuckin dead MULEs. It was... nice, actually. He felt light warmth in his cheeks, his heart beating annoyingly in his chest.

"Nah, hang out in the back. Its safer for you back there." Sam shrugged, giving him one last glance. 

"You won't chance the sun." He reminded, putting his sunglasses on. The only problem he had with it was just an annoying amount of day blindness and his skin was a little itchy. 

Like a sunburn, but a little more annoying.

Higgs huffed, hunkering down in the back, his back rested against the cab as they drove out. He fell asleep at some point while they drove, only waking when a particularly crappy bump jostled him into whacking his head against the corner of the window.

"Ow, fuck!" He hissed, rubbing at his head and the slight cut. "How long we been goin?" He asked, sticking his finger in his mouth to lick the blood off of it.

"Few hours. Looks like its probably about noon now." He shrugged, looking out at the sun. 

"How you doing back there?"

Grumbling again, Higgs sighed, letting his eyes slip closed. "M'fine. Just getting a little antsy... hate being cooped up is all," he muttered, holding his hand to his head over the cut that came from hitting himself against the corner of the window.

Sam sniffed a bit, scrunching his nose up. "Still smells like blood. You good back there? Did a bag pop or something?"

"Nah, it's... it's nothin. M'fine back here, all good," he muttered, feeling warmth flood his cheeks, his traitorous heart pounding heavily.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck..._

Sam turned, looking back and seeing blood running down Higgs' face. 

"Are you bleeding!? What the fuck?" He asked, stopping the truck and putting it in park to have a better look at him.

Panic settled into his chest, scrambling a bit further into the back of the truck, into the darkness.  
"I'm fine!" He exclaimed, pulling his sleeve down to wipe at the blood on his face, trickling hot down his cheek where Sam could fucking _see_ he wasn't—

....he wasn't what Sam first assumed he was. Wasn't what he fuckin _wished_ he was.

"You idiot! Why didn't you say something!" Sam growled, getting out of the truck now. He slammed the door, opening up the back and looking in on Higgs. 

"Come on, let me have a look at that before you bleed out." He huffed, waiting for Higgs to come down from the back of the truck, to sit on the hatch.

Higgs whimpered, making himself small as he scooted to the edge so Sam could look at him.

"...s'nothin. Just a head wound – they always bleed a lot, m'fine," he muttered, clenching his jaw and averting his gaze from Sam, feeling as much the idiot as the man called him. "Are... are you gonna kick me out, now...?"

"Am I gonna kick you out?" Sam shook his head. "I don't know what to do with you now, but you're not going anywhere until I figure it out." He huffed, cleaning up the mess with the truck's first aid kit. 

"Come on, you can sit in the cab. Damn it kid, why the hell didn't you say anything?" He did his best not to touch Higgs, tossing everything into the truck. 

"Get in the truck. We gotta talk."

He made soft, upset sounds as Sam cleaned him up and then damn near ordered him into the truck.  
Hopping from the back, he trudged to the cab, climbing in and closing the door on himself.

"I...I'm sorry, I just..." he looked down at his hands in his lap, chewing on his own lip. "I... I dunno– I could be your source, if you need one? Maybe?"

"We'll talk about that later." He brushed off the idea for now. The thought of feeding on someone made him physically sick more often than not.

"First I want to know what the fuck you were doing in that camp if you're not one of us." She said, slamming his door and turning to look over to Higgs.

"Trying to be what I clearly passed as, even to you, until now," he sighed, shaking his head as he kept looking down at his hands in his lap. "Taking out some MULE bastards in the process. Hate em all... they don't give a damn who they hurt or who they steal from, so why should I give them any fucks?" He asked, his voice a low growl, but Sam's growl was deeper, sexier sounding.

"I don't really give a shit about the MULEs. I'm trying to figure out what you were trying to achieve by ripping that guys throat out." Sam looked over at him. 

He should care about human lives and blah blah blah, but Higgs was right that they didn't care about who they hurt. 

Poor kid was probably one of the people hurt by them. Sure would explain a lot.

"...how did you turn?" He asked quietly, turning the tables so that he could be the one asking the questions for the moment, turning slightly so he could look towards Sam.

"There's no documented shit about how people turn, but there's plenty about all the bloodshed and violence – at least that's the shit my Daddy read to me and..." he shrugged. "Thought that maybe I could... I dunno..."

"I didn't turn." Sam said simply, still a little irritated, knowing what Higgs was doing but wasn't going to push just yet. 

"Always been this way." He said simply, looking over to him.

"Wha– ....what do you mean...?" He asked quietly, swallowing heavily as he looked up at Sam, digging his fingers into his thighs.  
"How could you possibly have always been this way? Do– ...does that mean people aren't turned? They're fuckin born?"

...so did that mean, he couldn't...?

"Most of us are born." Sam nodded, giving another shrug before turning and starting the truck again. 

"I've heard we can turn someone, but it takes mass quantities of our blood, probably killing us. Either bathing in it or drinking it. Mostly drowning in it. But we're talking enough to kill us." Sam frowned, having heard of a few cult cases like that. 

"I've heard a few people have been able to turn someone by letting them feed off them too. But the vampire has to want it, so don't you get any ideas."

Higgs shoulders slumped, staring at his hands in his lap again.

"...so there's no way for me to..."

_Someday I'll die, and that'll be it, then. I'll die, and I'll be gone. Nobody'll remember little Higgs Monaghan. Nobody'll even know I existed..._

He fell quiet, leaning his head against the door, feeling his eyes water a bit.

"Hey, talk to me." Sam turned to him, looking him over. "What's your story then? Why you out there just wandering around?"

"Nowhere else to go," Higgs shrugged. "Can't go back where I came from, wouldn't even if I could. So, my only option is to be out here, wandering and takin care of myself best I can."

Sam kept quiet a moment, thinking it over. He knew it didn't matter. He'd made his decision before he'd even thought about it. 

"Looks like you're stuck with me now then, kid." He forced a smile, looking over to Higgs. "I know it ain't a glamorous life. But I'll keep you fed and with shelter over your head."

"I can keep you fed, too, if you wanted," Higgs shrugged, unsure how to take to someone saying they were planning to take care of him.

He didn't want to feel trapped again, didn't want to be terrified constantly of doing something wrong and getting his ass beat to within an inch of his life.

"If it's all the same to you, I don't really feel comfortable doing that." Sam said simply, watching the path in front of him. 

"Won't hold it over your head though. Might be nice to have some company, maybe." He thought about it. Thinking about how lonely he'd been over the years.

"...because you don't trust me, or some other reason that you're gonna keep all mysteriously to yourself until the day I die?" He asked, sighing out a heavy breath.

"It's whatever, I guess, as long as you know it's an option available to you."

"It's got nothing to do with my trust for you or not." Sam shook his head, not really caring. 

"Just never saw the appeal in it. Did it once as a kid and threw up for days. Keep to the packaged shit mostly."

"...oh," he murmured, his shoulders slumping further.

Of all the fucking creatures to find, of course he finds the one that has some bad reaction to drinking from the source.

Of.  
Fucking.  
Course.

"Just my fuckin luck," he muttered quietly, leaning back in the seat to stare out the window. "...just drop me off somewhere, wouldja? I'd rather not feel indebted to you if I can help it. Already do, anyway, what with you gettin me away from the camp and then gettin me new clothes..."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sam asked, feeling confused. 

"I want your company. Isn't that enough?" He huffed, not stopping at all. "What's your deal then? Why you want to be one of us so bad?" He asked curiously. "You know it sucks for you turns."

"You wouldn't get it," he grumbled, pressing himself as close to the door as he could, pulling away from Sam both physically and emotionally.  
"You've always been like that so you wouldn't... you wouldn't get why I would want it."

Sam frowned, looking Higgs over. "Maybe not. But I'd like to think I'm not a total monster." He chewed his lip, feeling like that's what most people felt about him and his 'kind'.

"...I don't want to be afraid for my life all the time. Don't want to feel powerless ever again..." he murmured. "My mama died when she had me and so my Daddy took care of me, even though he constantly reminded me that he didn't have to. If I did even one little thing the wrong way or talked back or... or even if he was just in a bad mood, he'd beat my ass within an inch of my life and leave... I don't... I don't ever wanna fucking feel that way again," he breathed, his jaw clenching tight a moment before he closed his eyes and let out a breath.

"So when he told me about vamps, I had hope. Something to strive for. If I could become like them, I'd never have to be afraid again..."

Sam frowned, listening to Higgs, understanding why he wanted it. 

"You seem to be pretty powerful on your own." He commented, looking over to him, stopping the truck, parking it again. 

"I promise you, if you stick around with me, I won't let you be afraid of anything again."

Higgs glanced towards Sam, opening his eyes and really looking at the other guy.

"....just until I find something better and then I'll be out of your hair. Don't wanna have you stuck with me for the rest of my damn life."

It'd be a short life, anyway.  
...and he didn't want Sam to see him die.

Sam shrugged, looking him over. "I'm not worried about any of it. Whatever you want, kid." He put the truck into drive again, trying to figure where they were going. 

"Any idea where you wanna go?" He asked, driving to the next center, a bit of a ways off. "Could go to the city? You're human, so you won't go burning on me. We could ditch the truck. Wander around."

"I'd rather wander around. I know the open world, don't wanna go to a city. Been once and..." he shrugged. "Didn't like it, and we'll leave it at that."

A human kid traveling with a vamp?  
Into a city?  
Sure, yeah, that wouldn't seem weird at all.  
At least out here in the open world, no one would make faces or judge because there was barely ever people out this far anyway.

Preppers, sometimes. Porters even less.  
It was why Higgs liked it so much.

"Alright. We'll stop at the first center we see that can junk the truck and take a delivery I guess." Sam agreed with whatever Higgs wanted. 

Didn't really matter to him either. He'd make a delivery here and there. Maybe sleep and do some sight seeing. But nothing really held his interest anymore. 

He'd lost his desire to live. Was the main reason he didn't understand why anyone would want to be like this.

"...so what's your story then, Sam? Why you so willing to throw everything off course for a stupid kid you found in a MULE camp...?" He asked, leaning back in his seat, trying to relax a little.

Seems he wasn't chasing Sam off any time soon, no matter what he said or did.

"Not like I got anything else going on." He shrugged, heaving a sigh. 

"Look, I thought you were one of us when you were out there, covered in blood." He frowned chewing his lip. "People hate our types. They think we're blood thirsty monsters, but I hardly need to eat. Saw you out there, thought someone had you and abandoned you." He felt his stomach clench, the thought not far from the truth. 

"Couldn't let a kid make a bad name for us. And I'd be even more of a dick to leave you out there when you clearly didn't know how to even eat right."

Higgs felt his cheeks flush a little with warmth, shrugging a bit. "So you rescued me for me, but also for the rest of your kind," he hummed, throwing another curious glance towards Sam, as if he were trying to piece something together.

Sam was... a good guy.  
Definitely better than Daddy or those MULEs. Definitely better than anyone might let kids believe.

"...thank you..."

"For what?" Sam breathed a laugh, relaxing and driving. He couldn't help a yawn, looking around and trying to figure where they were. 

"For... I don't know... everything? For still taking me with you even after I basically lied to you, let you keep thinkin I was like you..." he murmured quietly.  
There was a silence in the truck for a short while, but then they made it to the center. They both hopped out and Higgs followed Sam on foot into the center. The world was bigger and so much more beautiful on foot, anyhow.  
They left the truck behind and Sam went to take on a few orders.

"What? So then you'd think I was the monster your Dad wanted you think we are?" Sam rolled his eyes, adjusting his pack. 

"You're still a clueless kid. Maybe not like me, but you still could use someone on your side." He watched his feet, doing a mental inventory of what he had before they got too far. 

"Guess humans do need food and sleep though. You might have to adapt to my schedule though." He looked up at the other man. "Think you'd like to be a little more nocturnal?"

"Never knew night from day before coming out here, so I sleep when I'm tired, whenever the hell that may be. But—" he glanced at Sam, a smile tugging at his lips.

"I can adjust to whatever is best for you, no problem," he hummed, knowing it was the least he could possibly do, since Sam had given him so much, and was doing so much for him.

Sam smiled, still looking back to Higgs. "Maybe you'll be more like me then. Adapt to my schedules, pick up my habits... but you'll need to eat. That's one we'll have to figure out." 

He let out a laugh, face scrunched. "Don't think a bag of blood would be a good idea for you."

"Yeah I've... never drank that much. Not in one setting, anyway," he murmured, chewing the inside of his cheek. "I usually raid food from the MULE camps I attack. They have some food stuffs laying around usually. Mostly just protein packs and such but... it's still something to fill my belly with other than their blood."

...and sometimes a little bit of their flesh. Woops.

Sam frowned, looking over at the kid, feeling a little queasy. 

"Why do you eat from them if you're not one of us? It can't taste good." He shook his head, seeing somewhere they could rest just a little ways in front of them.

"Already told you why, didn't I? Thought eating like a vamp could make me... I don't know... into one," he averted his gaze, shrugging. "There's quite a few pre-Stranding things from various cultures about transformations becoming of a being that has eaten or had drink from another of his kind."

"Usually they're talking about disease." Sam teased lightly, leading the way into a but of an overhang. They'd be safe if it rained, but they were still out in the open.

"It tastes disgusting though, doesn't it? It doesn't make you sick?"

"Did at first, sure, but I built up a tolerance to it," he shrugged, plopping himself down on one of the large rocks under the overhang. "Still makes my stomach a little unsettled, but I don't get sick anymore because of it."

Sam didn't understand, but he was trying it seemed like, and that was... decent of him.

"But, if being sick, if tasting that salty crap was what it took to become something else, something more than I am, something more difficult to kill... I could get past all of it."

Sam sat down, rubbing at his shoulders and stretching. "Seems to me you've already made yourself pretty difficult to kill." He turned to him, assessing his small body. 

Probably was the lack of nutrient and actual, fulfilling food. 

"What would you do if you did become one?"

"One good hit on me and I'll still go down and bleed out," he huffed, averting his gaze. "I've just learned to be fast, I've learned to be as quiet as I can be. Doesn't mean I'm any less easy to kill," he muttered, closing his eyed as the breeze wafted through his hair.

_What would you do if you did become one?_

"Be grateful that I'd finally made it. Keep on keeping on with what I do, with less fear of being so easily taken down."

Sam shook his head, stretching his legs out in front of him and making himself comfortable. 

"That's why I won't try and figure out a way." He said simply, closing his eyes. "We can die too, you know. And if you're out here, ripping MULEs to shreds, people are going to freak out. They'll hunt us for sport and you'll get a lot of innocent people killed."

"Ain't gonna tear MULEs apart unless I have to – I meant that I... I'll just keep going. Living out here, not staying any one place too long. Getting as fucking far from the bunker I grew up in as possible," he sighed, rolling his eyes open and pushing himself off the rock.

"And maybe you can die, but you don't die damn near as easy as I do."

It was a losing battle.  
Sam wasn't going to help him reach his goal – he would sooner help him far away from it.

Sam watched Higgs talk, listening to the truth in his words. He looked distressed, poor thing. 

He was running from something horrible. Something that made them look like the way out. 

"I'll think about it. But you'll have to do a lot of convincing. Turning someone is a huge responsibility, so I've heard."

His heart lifted a bit, his silver-blur eyes brightened as he looked towards Sam. "You– really? You'll really think about it...?" He asked, an excitement bubbling in his chest.

He bolted across the ground to Sam, damn near tackling him down as he hugged the man so tightly, desperate tears burning in his eyes.

"Thank you... thank you, thank you..."

"Alright, alright. Get offa me." Sam huffed a laugh, letting himself give Higgs a small squeeze. Something like a hug, but not quite. 

"Come on now, let me get some sleep."

Higgs grinned and nodded, scrambling off of Sam's lap so he could lay down beside the man, still wearing that big smile on his lips.

"Sleep well, Sam," he murmured quietly, letting his eyelids slip closed, willing his excitement to take rest so he might sleep.

Sam let Higgs sleep next to him, waking at one point with the boy curled against him. He'd let the kid sleep, wrapping an arm around him and drifting off again himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam woke again just as the sun was starting to go down, the cycle practically engrained in his body at this point. He rolled his neck to pop it as he sat up. 

"Higgs, time to wake up kid."

Grumbling softly, Higgs pushed himself to sitting before he rubbed at his eyes and opened them, looking out into the quickly darkening world.

"Mmm...evening," he murmured, his voice thick and bogged down by that he was still waking up.

"Evening." Sam greeted and sat back, digging through his pouch and grabbing himself a bag. 

He popped it open with his teeth, sucking at its contents, gulping it all down, breathing heavily through his nose as he didn't stop.

Licking his lips, once he was done, he folded the now empty bag and put it back into his pouch. He used his tongue, cleaning his teeth, not wanting to waste a drop.

Higgs sucked in a breath, just watching Sam with big wide eyes, a flush a warmth in his cheeks.  
He wanted to kiss him– _fucking hell_ – he wanted to kiss him and lick at those sharp teeth of his, too, as he watched Sam's pink tongue get every last drop of that blood.

...what a way to start off the night.

"S-So... what's the uh... what's the plan, then?" He asked, his voice trembling as he pushed himself to stand, needing to move away from Sam so he wouldn't notice his flushed cheeks, so maybe he could get away with how fast and heavy his heart was pounding.

Sam could smell the rush of blood on Higgs, could see the way his little cheeks got so delightfully pink. What a human thing to do. 

He couldn't tell what emotion was darkening Higgs' eyes though... well, it was desire, so he couldn't tell the why of it. What had his eyes so dark, what he desired.

"Well, we've got to make our way over the mountains. Then through to where some preppers are in that area. Drop off our cargo." He explained, looking in the direction they were going before giving his map a look.

"You a strong climber?"

"Pretty strong, yeah... Never climbed an actual mountain before though... never made it that far out," he cleared his throat, stepping out into the cool night air to calm the heat in his face, the pounding of his stupid heart.

Was that all _really_ necessary?  
Did he have to be so—

Higgs scrubbed at his face with his sleeves, grumbling to himself.

"Pull yourself together, Higgs... ain't no time to be falling to shit..." he huffed quietly.

"No snow yet, so that'll help. Looks clear enough that we're not going to be scrambling out of the rain either." He looked around, setting his pack back up and heading out, leading the way. 

"If it comes to the worst, you look pretty light. You can be tossed back with the cargo."

"Oh gee, thanks. Just toss me around like nothing," Higgs huffed, trekking behind Sam, following in his steps almost exactly, so that he knew the ground was stable.

If it could hold Sam and all that cargo, it could surely hold his tiny little form.

This was a part of the country Higgs hadn't made it to yet, and it was so different from where he had started out. There was far more green, for instance.

"What's on your mind? You've been quiet." Sam asked, making his way up some easy rocks, climbing for the fun of it.

Higgs followed him mindlessly, barely stumbling at all as he shrugged a bit. "Just never seen the landscape like this before... it's beautiful," he murmured, pausing to take a breath, his exhale escaping as a little puff on the air.

"You been all over the place?"

"It's one of my favorite areas. Not too hot that you're sweating, and not too cold that all you can do is shiver." He smiled, looking at Higgs before giving a look at the landscape. 

"No snow most of the year either." Here hummed, turning to keep moving. "Ive been just about everywhere. It never used to be this bad, the isolation I mean."

"What changed that things are... bad?" He asked quietly, still following behind Sam faithfully, doing his best not to appear like he was struggling a little with his footing in some of the more rocky areas of their current path.

Sam shrugged, thinking about it a moment. "Fear probably. Of us. Of the things that we're afraid of." He explained, checking his map again, stopping a moment to let Higgs catch his breath. 

"The rain still ages everything. There's the BTs out there still, no one has any way to know it's safe." He looked around, pointing to something in the distance. 

"There used to be roads here. People would travel all over just for fun. It was nothing then. Now people barely leave their bunkers to see the sun."

"I'd never seen the sun before leaving my bunker either, except for when I would see it in books or on shows that Daddy played," he shrugged. "So I guess I see what you mean. ...but I have no clue what BTs are. Haven't run into anything called that..." he murmured, stretching out his limbs so that he could be ready to walk again.

"How long you been around, Sam? Or you just know all this stuff from research?"

"I don't think I've been around that long. 40 years maybe? Hard to tell when it doesn't matter." Sam shrugged, starting to pull himself up the rocks. 

"There's people I knew from childhood that are still around. They're old, but around." He offered his hand down, waiting to pull Higgs up to him. "Life's different when you're out here, seeing all of it, despite living in a bunker and hearing what they want you to hear."

Higgs reached up and scrambled up the rocks while he held Sam's hand, using the man's hand as leverage to help him up.  
"You been around so long it doesn't even matter to you anymore...?" He asked quietly, a sadness seeping into his voice, his brow furrowing a bit. "...I'm sorry, Sammy..."

Sam shrugged, chewing the inside of his cheek in thought. "The passage of time I mean. Someday I'll stop aging and the world around me will either change or stay the same. But it really doesn't matter. Why count it when it means nothing?"

"...but it all means something, even if it's small somethings," Higgs murmured, looking up at Sam, seeming to search the older man's face with a gentle sadness in his own expression.

"You being here, being alive, or... or undead? Whatever you're considered, you're here, Sam. Living through all this shit and surviving. More than most can say, you know..." he shrugged a bit, averting his gaze from Sam.

"Yeah, but over time you can't help but feel a bit numb to it all." Sam sighed, feeling his shoulders slump a bit. "I think you really don't understand what a privilege death is. It gives you purpose, a drive to achieve something." He swallowed, thinking about what purpose he could possibly serve. 

Aside from keeping Higgs safe, which is recent. And he could leave him at any point. Both physically or forever if they weren't careful. 

"At a certain point, you'll get tired of it all. Just the same bullshit."

"....I've been too close to death too many times and it is _not_ a privilege. It's not something I want to be that close to ever again, if I can help it," he breathed, shaking his head as he looked down at his footing, careful as he climbed over some more slippery rocks.

"We come from different headspaces, you and I," he added absently, glancing to Sam.

He seemed so sad and lost, like he had given up but just couldn't find a way out.  
...and Higgs was too much of a damn coward to get out. Too afraid of the nothing that came after to ever want to be close to that again.

Sam sighed, just leading the way for a while, trying to keep a steady pace and keep an eye out for slippery areas. 

"It just... gets lonely, you know? Your friends and the people you care for start to die around you. People are uncomfortable around you, and they learn to hate you for what you have. Youth, answers, the cure for death, whatever. It's isolating." He explained, pointedly not looking at Higgs now. 

"You got to consider that. That it won't be all it's cut out to be once you get it."

"Never cared much for people anyway. You seen what I did to other ones I ran into," he shrugged, a sheepish look on his face. "You're the first that's treated me any sort of decent– you know, even without going after fuckin MULEs, someone thought I was like you anyway. Cus of the teeth," he paused in his walking, parting his lips with his fingers to show off those sharp canines of his.

"...and... it don't have to be lonely. I could stick around you, if you wanted the company. Like I said, you're the first that's ever been decent to me."

"And what about after I give you what you want? IF I give you what you want?" Sam asked skeptically, a little bitterness to his voice. 

"What reason you got to stick around after that, huh?"

"Cus I'm not a fucking dickhead," Higgs growled, releasing his hold on his lips so he could damn near snarl at Sam for even suggesting– even thinking that all he was here for was the one thing, the hope that Sam _might_ turn him.

"You're nice to me, and I like you. If I gotta travel the fuckin wasteland world with anyone, wouldn't be so damn bad for it to be you. Unless you don't want me around."

Sam felt like a jerk at the reaction. He hated what he'd been turned into over the years. 

"Sorry... get used to being used. Ya know?" He looked down, adjusting his pack just for something to do.

"Yeah, actually, I do know," he huffed, climbing ahead of Sam a bit, also needing to do something with his hands and he wanted to move ahead.

Somewhere in his head, he knew he shouldn't be so hard on Sam, shouldn't blame him for worrying or thinking that maybe Higgs was just here to be turned and then he'd run off.  
A different version of him, a different time... that probably would've been the case.

...but he actually liked Sam, for the most part. Liked having the company, the warmth of someone to sleep next to.

Sam followed Higgs for a bit before their path was blocked by a large rock structure. 

"I'll climb up and drop down a rope, alright? Sit tight. I'll be a minute." He climbed up, wondering idly exactly how fragile humans were. If Higgs would even have the upper body strength to climb up a rope or not.

Higgs leaned against the big ass rock structure, waiting for the rope to find it's way down to him. He'd never actually climbed a rope before, but he knew the logistics of how to do it so... should be fine.

"You still there, or did you leave me behind?"

Sam looked down, just having reached the top and catching his breath. "Be patient. And don't get hit in the head." He teased, tossing the rope down, watching Higgs grab it and make his struggle up. 

He could always pull the rope up, but this was entertaining too.

"Patience is a virtue I haven't quite mastered," Higgs grunted, struggling his way up the rope, up to the top. By the time he reached Sam, his hands were sore and a little bloodied and his arms felt like noodles.

"Did you enjoy the show?" He asked, glaring at that little smile that twitched Sam's lips.

Sam pressed his lips together, trying to his his twitching smile. "No idea what you're talking about." He smirked, patting Higgs on the back and starting off again. 

"You got food with you? Haven't seen you eat yet. Maybe we can trade something when we get to the preppers."

"Ain't got shit," he muttered, pulling his sleeves down to his palms to blot at the scrapes and sore of his hands.  
"Lost all my stuff to the first group of MULE fucks that found me when I got free from my Daddy. Haven't been able to keep much on me since," he muttered, following after Sam, shaking his head.  
Stupid ass, enjoying watching his struggle.

Sam dug through his pouch finding an old, smushed granola bar. "Dont know how good it is, but... better than nothing I guess." He shrugged, handing it over.

Higgs took the bar, breaking it open and damn near scarfed it down, stuffing the packaging in his little bag.  
"Thanks, Sam," he hummed, despite his stomach turning and rather disliking the contents it had just been given.

Sam watched in minor disgust as Higgs nearly swallowed the bar whole. "We can see about getting something to eat at the next center. Maybe city." He offered, letting out a minor snort of disbelief. 

"Maybe we can get some rest there too? I'm sure Bridges is dying to bleed me again."

"Bleed you?" Higgs furrowed his brow, looking up at Sam after wiping his hands on his pants. "Why does Bridges bleed you for?" He asked, his face scrunched up a bit.

Seemed more than a little suspicious and weird...

"More importantly, why you let em do that? Trade for giving you a place to stay for a bit or what?"

Sam frowned, looking at Higgs like he wouldn't understand. How could he? He barely could. 

"Bridges is all I have. They're my family. They've raised me. I'm sure they're using the blood for questionable intentions, but what can I do to stop them. Purpose and all that, remember?"

Scoffing quietly, Higgs waved a hand off at Sam. "Find you a new family that ain't gonna bleed you for a roof over your head, that's what you can do," he replied, putting his hands behind his head as they came to more steady ground and he could stretch a little.

"Killed my family."

"What they do to you?" He asked curiously, walking in step with Higgs now.

"All my poor mama did was give birth to my sorry ass," he laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "She died so I could live, and my Daddy hated that. Hated that I killed her, and then had the audacity to look so much like her."

Sam looked over to him, raising his brow. "You killed him too then. Good. I'm sure he deserved it." He said simply, looking in front of him again. 

"I was adopted. So I can't exactly relate to any of that. Don't know my biological parents. I'm sure it doesn't matter. They're probably gone by now anyway."

"Well, I've not got a great track record of them, so I can't tell you whether it's good or bad that you don't know yours," Higgs chuckled, shrugging.

"Your adopted parents alright or... or they shit too?"

"Didn't really know her. Care not to follow the news of everything." He shrugged, looking around anxiously now. "Think shes still alive. Probably what the blood is all for. They probably think it has the magical ability to keep them young or some shit." He laughed, still not really sure what it was for. 

He'd heard they were using it in testing as a transfusion, but not much else. He didn't really care to know if it worked or not.

"Ah... absentee adoptive parent, huh?" Higgs nodded, kicking rocks at his feet as they walked on, on flatter ground again. It was weird, land being all the way up here, so much closer to the sky than they had been earlier.

"Sorry... can't imagine that was too great either."

"Got nothing to compare it too. So I'm not complaining." He smiled at Higgs. "Guess we're two fuck ups wandering around together. You're weirder than me though."

"Of course I am, I'm glad you've noticed," Higgs smirked, walking close to Sam so he could gently elbow the other man. "You'll find no one weirder than I am, Sammy~" he added happily as they made their way to buildings and prepper posts.

"Wouldn't want to have any other traveling companion, though."

"Nah. Weirds good. Especially since I've seen just about all of it." He teased, bumping Higgs back. 

"How old are you anyway?"

"Haven't seen just about all of me, though," he teased right back, giving Sam a playful wink as he skipped ahead a little, turning to walk backwards.

"Dunno, really. Uh...18 to 20 something maybe, is what I'd guess," he tapped his chin, stumbling a little. "Didn't have a way of counting and Daddy didn't give a fuck. Or, if he did, he didn't share."

"You're just a baby then!" Sam teased, pinching at Higgs' side. "Aww! Maybe I should be carrying you."

"Ain't no baby!" Higgs laughed, swatting at Sam's hand, his cheeks a little pink. "And I sure don't need carried, not after all this! I'm gonna make it to the end on my own two feet thank you kindly!"

"Yeah? No shame on being a little coddled!" Sam laughed, playfully grabbing at Higgs, teasing at picking him up.

It would be nothing to lift the kid, a sack of beans probably weighed more than he did.

"Coddle me all you like when we get to wherever the hell you said we could rest!" Higgs exclained, swatting at Sam's hands again, still giggling and smiling as he did so, his face pleasantly warm and his heart pounding a bit heavily in his chest.

Sam made him feel such things that he hadn't felt before, and it was simultaneously beautiful and annoying as fuck.

Sam laughed, giving Higgs a light shove before leaving him be. "Alright, fine. You're no fun." He teased, heading to the terminal to make a delivery. 

"Can't stand how some of these people are so damn far away from each other."

"Oh, I'm plenty fun!" He huffed, heading under the roof behind Sam, watching curiously as he accessed the terminal and delivered the cargo that had been requested.

"Makes it tough to travel between them?"

"Yeah! And somehow these bastards always have the heaviest shit." Sam laughed, loading up his pack to the nearest city. 

"Alright, come on then. We're gonna head to whatever Bridges facility we see first. Food and a bed, you need a shower."

"You sayin I stink?" He chuckled, following Sam out of the bunker entrance, bouncing a bit in his excitement to go somewhere new, even newer than all this.

_Bridges.  
A place with food and beds and showers!_

...and people.  
All good things came with some bit of bad.

"Humans always have a smell to them." Sam teased putting on a face for Higgs. 

The kid actually didn't smell half bad. His blood wasn't horrible and repulsive, probably because he consumed a lot of blood himself, but all the same. 

He liked him. Sam actually liked Higgs. He wasn't a burden to him, not a weight to be carried.

Higgs stuck his tongue out at Sam, giving him a playful flip of the bird as he started racing in the direction they were traveling.

"Funny, cus you sure didn't smell that until I was in the back of your truck, bleeding from my head," he called over his shoulder, smirking. "You just getting a little rusty, or what?"

Sam played offended, chasing after Higgs, catching up even though he was pretty weighed down. 

"Little shit! Get back here!"

"Come'n get me, Sammy boy~" he called, picking up his running pace a little as he hurried away from Sam, laughing excitedly. "Betcha can't catch me, not with all that shit weighin you down!"

Sam glared at him, knowing he was being egged on by the challenge. He knew he could catch the kid no problem. 

So, he took off running at him, not pushing himself completely, catching up with only a bit of effort. He grabbed him, lifted him off his feet and moved him to hold him like a baby.

"Now whatcha gonna do?" He grinned, looking down at the young man in his arms, rocking him and laughing.

Higgs yelped when he felt the other man's hands on him, scooping him up into his arms and cradling him like a goddamned baby.

_Asshole._

He felt his cheeks burn brightly as he blinked up at Sam in his surprise, wriggling a bit.

"Alright alright!! You caught me– now put me down, you dope!" He huffed, his voice saying one thing, but the way he relaxed in Sam's arms and rested his head against Sam's chest, well... seemed to be saying something else altogether.

He couldn't remember ever being held like this... ever feeling so safe in someone's arms.

Sam laughed, carrying Higgs now. "Little baby, Higgs." He dug playfully one last time, holding him to his chest, carrying him. 

It was a little difficult, but not horrible. At least the ground was flat. He let Higgs just take it easy for now.

His cheeks remained a nice warm pink as Sam continued to carry him, not putting him down despite the demand to do so.

Oddly enough, though... he didn't... mind? Being carried.

"...don't push yourself, Sam. You're already carrying all that crap on your back..."

"Aw come on. What's the point of being a freak against nature if you don't get to abuse it now and then." Sam teased, smiling gently down at Higgs. 

"I won't let anyone see me carrying you. Just relax and take a nap." He hummed, knowing he had to be tired. He'd gone almost nonstop since last night with nothing to eat.

The soft way Sam looked at him, the gentle way he treated him... god, Higgs could just die and be happy right now.  
Well.  
Maybe.  
He still wasn't sure about dying actually... but he was, at least, very happy.

He blinked up at Sam a few times, his eyelids actually feeling heavy now that Sam gave him the go ahead to feel it. To feel the exhaustion that he had been fighting.

He wasn't sure when he had drifted off, or for how long, but when he opened his eyes again, there were buildings all around them and they were heading into the mouth of an entrance overhang.

"Sam...?"

"Shh... go back to sleep." Sam soothed, looking down at Higgs. "We're here, it's just about morning. I can set you down if you really want."

"Where's here?" He asked groggily, rubbing at his eyes. "We're gonna sleep in a bed, right? I can go back to sleep once we're there so... so it's okay if you put me down," he hummed, still blinking himself awake.

Sam's voice was so smooth and comforting... He hoped Sam never stopped looking at him like that.

Sam gently set Higgs down once they got to the bottom of the ramp. "I'm gonna deliver all this stuff, then we can get a room." He smiled, letting his hand linger at the small of Higgs' back before heading to the terminal. 

He delivered his cargo before going to the the private rooms. He led the way to the elevator, then down to the rooms. He let them in, gesturing to the room before taking his suit off and hanging it and his pack in the decontamination closet. 

"Shower, bathroom, all in one." He pointed to the far end of the room, sitting on the floor to remove his boots.

Higgs walked in a sort of trance after Sam, from terminal, to elevator and from elevator to private room. Once there and the door closed behind them, Higgs looked around, taking everything in as Sam stripped to his underclothes.

"Do uhm... do you want to shower first or... do you even need a shower?" He bit his lip, still looking a little tired as he fought his body from sinking to the floor with Sam.  
He knew if he went down, he wouldn't be getting back up any time soon.

"You first. You can sleep while I shower." Sam smiled, looking the room over. "There's some sweats you can use as pajamas if you want." He offered, grabbing them out of the rooms standard items. 

"Get your shower, I'll let them take their 'donation' and then it'll be my turn."

Nodding, Higgs stepped towards the shower and stripped out of his clothes, leaving them in a pile beside the shower before stepping in.

The doors closed behind him as he reached up and turned the water on. He yelped softly when it rained over him, a little cool at first before it warmed, soothing the aches in his body.  
He stood under the warm spray for a good while, just standing, before realizing he needed to actually be cleaning himself.

Scrubbed clean and rinsed, Higgs stepped from the shower, dripping a little despite the dryer's going off.

"Your turn, Sammy."

Sam smiled, looking to the almost full bag. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll only be a minute." He said softly, feeling his own exhaustion setting in. 

They took quite a bit out of him every time. What the hell were they sustaining with his blood? 

Once it was full, the little door shut and played a little automated song, thanking him for his 'donation'. As if it was completely voluntary. 

He got up, taking his own clothes off for the shower, helping himself to the other pair of sweatpants in the room.

He slipped into the too-big sweatpants and climbed into the bed, closing his eyes and drifting slightly as he rested his head.

Were he more aware of himself and not so absolutely tired, he might have tried watching Sam, seeing him. Another time, maybe... The sound of the water pitter-pattering against the shower doors was soothing, and Higgs found himself out rather quickly, fallen into a light sleep.

Sam pulled on his own pants, falling into the bed, pulling the blanket over himself. 

He felt like he could probably just close his eyes and fall asleep. 

He held on for just a minute, listening to Higgs breathing, sure he was asleep, comfortable and safe. That was all it took for Sam to fall asleep, deep and dreamless.

**Author's Note:**

> So! This is one that is finished where mewsifer and I write each other, and I'll do my best to post a chapter at LEAST every other day
> 
> But here we go! Another adventure down the rabbit hole.


End file.
